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Thursday, December 10, 2015

Former Wayne County Airport Executive Charged in Retirement Fraud Case

Today Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy has charged Daniel Ogden Kerber, 66, of Plymouth, in connection with fraudulently obtaining funds from the Wayne County Retirement System. At the time he retired on September 1, 2009, Kerber was the Chief Operating Officer with the Wayne County Airport Authority. On July 27, 2009, he was allowed to move from Plan 5, which was a defined contribution pension plan, to Plan 1, which would allow him to receive a pension. When Kerber retired, he had a separation agreement that specified that his defined contribution assets of $340,166, held by Prudential, would be transferred into the Wayne County Retirement System. In September 2009, Kerber retired and began receiving a monthly pension of $11,337.48.

It is alleged that on April 27, 2011, in violation of his separation agreement, Kerber contacted Prudential for a check for his Plan 5 funds. The request was approved by an employee of the Wayne County Retirement System. On May 5, 2011, a check, with income tax taken out, for $277,481.40 was deposited in Kerber's credit union account. In April 2015, the issue was discovered by the Wayne County Employees Retirement System and subsequently turned over to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office Detectives for investigation

Kerber has been charged with one count of Larceny by False Pretenses over $100,000, which has a maximum penalty of 20 years and one count of Larceny by Conversion over $20,000, which has a maximum penalty of 10 years.

Prosecutor Worthy said, "This case is the ultimate example of why the Wayne County Retirement System is not properly funded. The alleged facts in this case will show that the defendant's greed allowed him to net hundreds of thousands of dollars he was not entitled to, all while he received over $11,000 a month in a pension from the County."

Kerber was arraigned this morning. The probable cause conference is scheduled for December 18, 2015; the preliminary examination is scheduled for December 28, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. in 35th District Court in Plymouth. The defendant was given a personal bond and was required to turn in his passport.

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